This is extremely well done.
In the late Sixties, Milton Bradley created the game Battleship, which introduced the catch phrase “You sank my battleship” to the general public.
It is still the shortest and most accurate history of the battleship to date.
In other battleship news, the manuscript for the book I’ve been developing out of Sunday Battleship Blogging is now with the editors. We should have some info soon regarding publication dates, etc.
Now that’s good trolling.
AN INTERESTING PARALLEL: MLK was targeted by J. Edgar Hoover, an unsavory character; I was targeted by the equally unsavory B. Hussein Obama
— Dinesh D’Souza (@DineshDSouza) January 19, 2015
I suppose there’s something to be said about the manner in which the terms of conservative “intellectualism” have changed over the years. In the 1980s and 1990s, D’Souza felt the need to make an effort at what amounted to mainstream respectability. Today, he has no interest in it, and it’s hard to identify conservatives who have the same pretensions. I guess that Ross Douthat would be the closest to having “crossover appeal.”
I’m old enough that I can remember when the Snowden docs were about domestic spying and civil liberties:
In addition to providing a view of the US’s own ability to conduct digital attacks, Snowden’s archive also reveals the capabilities of other countries. The Transgression team has access to years of preliminary field work and experience at its disposal, including databases in which malware and network attacks from other countries are cataloged.
The Snowden documents show that the NSA and its Five Eyes partners have put numerous network attacks waged by other countries to their own use in recent years. One 2009 document states that the department’s remit is to “discover, understand (and) evaluate” foreign attacks. Another document reads: “Steal their tools, tradecraft, targets and take.”
It’s interesting stuff, of course, the breathless citation of Marshall McLuhan aside.
An Air Force general goes all Palpatine over the A-10:
At the same time IraqiNews.com reported on a local source in Nineveh province who said that “the ‘Wild Boar’ aircraft which belongs to the U.S. Air Force has carried out four air strikes that killed and wounded dozens of ISIS elements, adding that the aircraft sparked panic in the ranks of ISIS, USAF officers were being told by [Major General James] Post “if anyone accuses me of saying this, I will deny it… anyone who is passing information to Congress about A-10 capabilities is committing treason.”
Who knew that an independent air force might pursue its own parochial vision of the national interest, without reference to either the needs of its sister organizations or the political process of American national security policy?
Also, I love the idea that the A-10 Warthog is known in some circles as the “Wild Boar” aircraft.
My therapist says that if I want to come to terms with Monday’s tragedy, I have to name the winner of the LGM Bowl Mania Challenge:
| 1 | 561 | 99.6 | |
| 2 | 549 | 99.3 | |
| 3 | 534 | 98.6 | |
| 4* | 518 | 97.2 | |
| 4* | 518 | 97.2 | |
| 6 | 516 | 97.0 | |
| 7 | 510 | 96.2 | |
| 8 | 507 | 95.8 | |
| 9 | 497 | 93.9 | |
| 10 | 496 | 93.7 |
Thank you all for your participation, etc. cabotgk should contact me at the address on the right sidebar regarding prize info.
My thoughts on last week’s aircraft carrier debate:
Last Friday, Commander Bryan McGrath (USN, ret.) and Captain Jerry Hendrix (USN, ret.) debated the future cost-effectiveness of the nuclear supercarrier. The United States Naval Academy provided the venue, the midshipmen the audience. The debate shed some light on how the USN thinks about its aircraft carriers, and potentially portended the future of the aircraft carrier debate across the Indo-Pacific.
From around the inter-tubes:
Dear Marcus,
Last night obviously didn’t go well. Some are arguing that you should stay for a final season, break some more records, win another Heisman, and maybe win the championship.
Please don’t.
The only thing worse that last night’s defeat is the prospect that you’ll get injured playing for free next year, and never get a chance to play on Sundays. Trust me, this is the worst possible outcome for fans of Oregon football. Things may work out in the NFL or may not, but at this point there’s no reason left for you to continue to play for the Oregon Ducks.
So please, declare for the draft, even if it means you have to play for the Bucs.
Yours truly,
A Concerned Duck
With respect to the bullshit of the day, if you’ve really convinced yourself that what Paris needs right now is the logistical nightmare that accompanies a visit by the President of the United States, then you’re a better hack than I thought.
The F.B.I. and Justice Department prosecutors have recommended bringing felony charges against retired Gen. David H. Petraeus for providing classified information to his former mistress while he was director of theC.I.A., officials said, leaving Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to decide whether to seek an indictment that could send the pre-eminent military officer of his generation to prison.
The Justice Department investigation stems from an affair Mr. Petraeus had with Paula Broadwell, an Army Reserve officer who was writing his biography, and focuses on whether he gave her access to his C.I.A. email account and other highly classified information. F.B.I. agents discovered classified documents on her computer after Mr. Petraeus resigned from the C.I.A. in 2012 when the affair became public.
Wow.
I would kill and eat a grown horse to see Dave Noon read and review this:*
As I alluded to earlier, tonight at 7:30pm Bryan McGrath and Jerry Hendrix will be having a debate on the future of the aircraft carrier, under the aegis of the US Naval Academy. Both of them know carriers, and have a lot to say about the future (or lack thereof) of the carrier in maritime warfare.
I debated light carriers with McGrath a few months ago (here, here, and here). You can find some of Hendrix’s views on carriers linked here. If you’re on twitter, follow the convo at #CarrierDebate .
Paul Campos, Above the Law 2011 Lawyer of the Year
Erik Loomis, HNN Cliopatria 2011 Best Series of Posts
